Evolution of thermomagnetic instability along a superconducting wire

Abstract Propagation of a magnetic perturbation along a monofilament superconducting wire under thermomagnetic instability was investigated. In NbTi wire at temperature T =4.2 K and magnetic field B =0.5–0.7 T the propagation velocity is found V =2.5–3.5 km/s. In NbZr the corresponding value is V =9 km/s.